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Glasgow store to exchange bitcoin for second-hand goods

A British store has become the first store in the country to allow customers to exchange their second-hand goods for the digital currency bitcoin.

CeX, a chain that purchases, sells and exchanges second-hand gadgets, announced that its Glasgow-based store would switch from the pound to bitcoin for a period of three days.

Bitcoin is a completely virtual/digital currency that works without any intervention by a central bank. It can be sent over the internet. Digital coins are kept in a digital wallet that users can access on a PC or mobile device like smartphone. It is increasingly being used to purchase products in select stores across the world.

CeX has become the first store to pay out the virtual/digital currency in exchange for goods.

Announcing the move, CeX's commercial director David Butler said, "In our store, the staff and customers live and breathe technology. It's only appropriate we looked at bitcoin as a way for our customers to buy and sell electronic goods."

Butler added that the virtual/digital currency was gaining unprecedented popularity amongst consumers around the globe. The three-day trial by CeX will offer an opportunity to show that an economic activity can manage without the pound.